Lit de Parade
Reflections
Thursday Thoughts – Longing…
Sometimes I find myself longing for those velvet and satin nights. Nights with only the sound of…distant birds. Nights when you walk slowly, holding the air in the palm of your hand… and feel tuned in to… the whole creation. Sometimes, these cold, windy and rainy Nordic nights…
Thursday Thoughts – Moving a Town
Kiruna is the northernmost town in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland in Norrbotten County. Inhabitants – about 20 000.
Esrange Space Center was established in Kiruna in the 1960s, and they also have the Institute of Space Physics.
The re-development of Kiruna is a reconstruction project, as the Kirunavaara mine, run by LKAB, undermines the current town center. Several buildings, including Sweden´s most beautiful church and the famous Town Hall, are to be moved or demolished. The whole town center is to be moved 3 kilometers to the east.
The ground deformations became apparent in 2003, and the redevelopment started in 2007. The moving of the town was started in 2014 and is expected to be finished by 2100. According to the plan, there will be a denser city centre with a greater focus on sustainability, green and blue infrastructure, pedestrians and public transport rather than automobiles.
Walking the empty streets at night, the snowy silence is almost visible, touchable, embedding you in cotton cold. I wonder how the people here really feel…knowing most of them will have to leave their homes and their familiar surroundings for something they have not chosen themselves. A great piece of history will be lost, and I guess a piece of Lapland´s soul as well.
Travel theme: Eyes
Eyes for Ailsa – who doesn’t love eyes?
I met some interesting eyes on my trip to Galapagos. In the header, the intriguing Nazca Booby. Piercing.
The Red-footed Booby has got red feet and marvellously blue eyes and bill.
Another interesting thing – the total metamorphosis of the Swallow-tailed Gull. Eyes like deep wells as young, and then….
Thursday Thoughts
This country road passes an old homestead, long since abandoned. I pass here maybe once a month, and every time I think…I really should stop and walk up that old road…
Today I drove past again…but something told me – this time I really must stop –
– so I finally did. I turned the car and parked it on the meadow nearby.
Happy to have made this decision, I slowly started walking towards the stonefences marking the road up to the house.
To the right, the fine old cellar that used to store food for the winter.
Then the house itself, on the left side of the road. I wonder who once lived here and why they left? The house lies beautifully on a hill, close to the forest and surrounding meadows.
My love for these roads with grass in the middle has a long story…all those childhood years I walked forest roads, meadow roads…and always with grass in the middle. StilI it is in me…I just have to follow them, to see where they go and what I eventually will find.
This road was very well kept, and must be used fairly often…
…at least by hunters
Another reminder of childhood days was this old telephone pole
Some finds I made, even if the walk did not last for more than 15 minutes. I was happy.
I believe we should try to do those little things…follow those whims and ideas we sometimes have. What do you think? It may take some time…but, I try to. Often with a positive outcome – for both me and people around me.
Meet Cachalote and Her Lovely Crew!
WPC: Ambience
Ambience – Nature is the master of this…I return to late evening canoeing along the narrow water ways of the Amazon basin. The darkness of the forest and the light still filtering in through the canopy. Hitting the tiny inhabitants of the river bed. The sounds of the rainforest tell you …you are not alone.
Travel theme: Quiet
My good life depends on how much quietness and contemplation I can find time for. Ailsa’s theme this week – and every week… – breathes of Life.
My choice today is also for a belated Happy Birthday to you, Ailsa, and wishes for a Happy New Year! Thank you for hosting the Travel theme – always a great joy to read and participate when I can.
Feel the quiet prescence of this lovely young sealion, standing on the warm beach – just in front of me – with her eyes closed…living in, and enjoying, the moment. No fears, Mindfulness, the sealion way.
WPC: Names
Skyr is a delicious Icelandic youghurt that has been a part of Icelandic cuisine for over a thousand years. It is traditionally served cold with milk and a topping of sugar. For a short while Skyr was available in our local food store (after my constant wishing for it…), but as it was rather expensive…I think they did not make enough profit from it…so, Iceland is the only option to get it…
But I love the taste of it and I love its Name!
Partytime – At the Fishmarket!
Before sailing with our ship, Cachalote, we went to the fishmarket in Puerto Ayora. On our way, we were constantly reminded of Darwin and his famous finches, and how repulsed he was by the marine iguanas, famously referring to them in his journal as “imps of darkness.” Personally I must say I love them both! I also love their surroundings and the way they exquisitely blend in…More than once I almost trod on them. Juan, our naturalist guide, was constantly warning us not to touch any animals here.
Marine iguana
Darwin recognized that the differrences in their beaks depends on their different food sources
When we finally reached the fishmarket, we got a full blown show the next half hour!
The fish (and bird…)market in Puerto Ayora
On the roof, waiting for the right moment…
Something fell under that box…let me…
The left brown pelican has lost his upper beak – I wonder how he managed…
The Great Frigate birds are tough guys who always steal their dinners…
If or When you finally get your hands on a piece of fish – run!
Always aware of the importance of their precious islands – do not catch the wrong fish!
Keep the Galápagos Islands the way they are – serene and unpolluted. 200 000 tourists a year visit them. Maybe Ecuador has to slow down a bit to save this treasure for the future?
Leya 
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